There are a myriad of uses for trailers. Trailers have utility in many rural, domestic and industrial applications in transporting goods, waste, livestock and equipment.
In one of the most common examples, the trailer consists of a chassis with at least two wheels joined together by a common axle. The load carrying surface of the trailer is typically flat, and the periphery of the load carrying surface may have side panels that are attached vertically. At least the rearmost vertical panel may be hingedly attached to the load carrying surface, thereby enabling a user to drop and/or remove the panel so that it at least lays substantially co-planar with the load carrying surface, thereby making it easier to load and unload the trailer.
In many cases it is also possible to tilt the trailer so that the front is raised and the rear is lowered down towards ground level. This may make it easier to slide or roll heavy and/or bulky objects onto and off the trailer.
In other uses, especially when transporting livestock, pets, or other types of animals, a trailer that includes a cage is used to confine the animal during transportation. On a farm for example, it is sometimes necessary to transport livestock, particularly sick or injured livestock, to other parts of the farm where the animal can receive special care and treatment. Animal transport trailers are also useful in urban and rural settings where they are used in association with animal control activities.
Another use for trailers is in the transportation of equipment. As an example, sometimes trailers are used by the elderly and incapacitated to transport mobility devices like powered wheelchairs etc from the person's home to a shopping centre for example. Quite often the person drives their mobility device onto their trailer, hitches it up to their car and then drives to their destination whereat they can offload their mobility device and proceed to move about at their destination, then reverse the procedure for the trip back home.
In a rural setting, like a farm for example, it is quite often necessary to transport feed, or water, or fuel for example from a nearby town to the farm, or from one part of the farm to another. In another example that is particularly relevant for small “hobby” sized farms, quite often only a small trailer sized plough is required to till the relatively small field, and this can easily be towed behind a suitable vehicle, such an all-wheel drive vehicle.
One of the problems associated with current trailers is that a trailer that is good at transporting loads and debris/rubbish, may not be as good at transporting animals or equipment. Quite often multiple trailers are required to provide multiple functions, and this is expensive, and also has the added problem of storing the various trailers when a particular one is not required.
Another problem is associated with loading and offloading trailers. Quite often loads need to be lifted up to the level of the load carrying platform. To remove a load, the load needs to be lowered down to ground level once it is removed from the load carrying platform. This can be extremely difficult with bulky and/or heavy items. Even with trailers that are able to tilt so that the rear is at or near ground level for loading and unloading, the load carrying platform may make a substantial angle that a person or persons loading the trailer must overcome in order to get the load onto the trailer. The significant angle also can make it difficult for the elderly, infirm or incapacitated to manipulate their mobility device onto the trailer safely and easily. Quite often the raised front end of the trailer will suddenly fall once the load moves far enough onto the load carrying platform of the trailer so as to reach the trailer's tipping point.
An aim of the present invention is to provide a multi-configurable trailer with a load carrying platform that can be raised or lowered so that the load carrying platform can be configured to lay flat on the ground that overcomes at least some of these problems.